Flying With Heroes and Demons
by ArtemisxHolly
Summary: It's been a few years since his combat days but when Aaron Larson gets a letter in the mail from someone in another country asking about his past, he takes his family to meet this man and hopefully answer some of his questions. Join me in recounting the tale of Aaron and the rest of Wardog Squadron and find out what this unknown person wants!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Hi there. This is my first attempt at any type of fanfiction (any type of fictional writing really) so i hope you guys like it. Also I'm still debating whether or not to keep it like the game or make it more like real life when it comes to the battles and planes. Let me knew what you think i should do by either telling me in a review or pm thanks and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: P.S. I don't own anything but the OCs i create. Thanks again.**

 **Prologue**

 **Present Day:**

I sat with my family in the little family restaurant waiting for the arrival of the person who had contacted me. It had been so long since I had been in my home country. It wasn't very different from Osea I thought as I looked around the small restaurant eventually resting my eyes on my wife. She was sitting the closet to the window with our two-year old daughter, Stephanie, asleep in her lap. She looked so much like her mother but with beautiful blond hair that I guess she got from me. Our five-year old son Patrick sat between us playing with what was left of his breakfast. I always took pride in myself when my wife would say that Patrick took after me, even though he always seemed to have a calmer attitude towards things than I usually did. I noticed him starting to dose off and gently put my arm around him so he could rest on my side. I was amazed he had lasted as long as he did, we were all tired from the long flight, but Patrick and Steph had been so excited to fly that they decided to stay up the whole flight against their mother's wishes.

We had landed late last night at the airport and the drive to San Salvacion had taken longer than we had hoped. Luckily we were to meet at ten so the kids could rest a bit beforehand.

My eyes wondered around the restaurant again. I thought it would have looked different but I guess all family restaurants consult the same designer who always says the same thing.

'Okay so we'll put the entrance to the middle-left and the hostess stand will be right there to their left…' and so on with all the booths next to the windows and small tables that can be thrown together for larger parties.

I laughed to myself at the thought, and continued to observe the other families and couples throughout the place, and smiled to myself.

'It's so peaceful.' I thought, 'Couldn't imagine this a few years ago.'

I checked my watch, 0959 hours.

"Heh" I chuckled, 'Hours? Old habits die hard I suppose'

My wife noticed and looked at me softly with a small smile drifting across her face. I wondered if she knew how many times that smile had brought me back from the brink of insanity. I smiled back.

"They should be here soon" I said. The smile never leaving her face as she nodded.

Just then, the door chimed open with a ring from the bell attached to its corner. A young man stood in the doorway, holding it open for a young, pretty, and very pregnant, woman. As the entered the young man took hold of the woman's hand and looked around before walking up to the hostess. The man appeared to be in his early twenties with light brown hair that had been shaped into the usual military buzz cut. The woman also seemed to be in her early to mid-twenties with dirty blond hair that fell just below her jawline, very similar to the way my wife had hers. As I continued to gaze at the couple a pang of emotion came over me as I remembered back to when we learned we were having Patrick. I was brought back when the hostess pointed to our table.

"They're here" I said.

I stood up as they made their way to us through the labyrinth of tables and chairs. I stuck my out to shake their hands and welcome them and the young woman gladly shook it as she sat down.

As I went to shake the man's hand he quickly clicked his heals together and saluted almost yelling "It's an honor to meet you Sir!" his voice somewhat shaky with nervousness. I laughed to myself with a small smirk on my face as I remembered and old friend of mine who also always used Sirs and Ma'am's when he had spoken to people.

'They're so alike.' I thought.

I quickly waved away the gesture saying "There's no need to be so formal. We're not in the military anymore." Our wives chuckled at the man's actions as he finally shook my hand and sat, looking down at the table with an, embarrassed smile.

'I really need to introduce him to my friend.' I smiled.

The sudden outburst from the man had woken Steph who was now staring with big eyes and an even bigger smile at the nice lady sitting across from her. Meanwhile Patrick who had nodded off earlier suddenly shot up in his seat realizing there were new faces he hadn't seen before seated. I felt a light tug on my sleeve and I looked down to see my son with a concerned look on his face. He tugged my sleeve again a little harder so I leaned over to see what he wanted. His small hands formed a cup around my ear, as if he were about to share the biggest secret in the world with me.

"Who are they?" he asked innocently.

I smiled at my boy saying, "Don't you remember why we came here?"

He then let go of my sleeve and proceeded to think. His right hand held his other elbow while his left hand stroked an imaginary goatee. A rare expression for anyone under _fifty_ let alone a _five-year_ old. Suddenly his eyes popped open beaming at me.

"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed, "Mommy said we were going on a trip to where you were born," I looked at him a little surprised as he continued, "to meet someone who wrote you a letter wanting to know about you and your work!" the surprise on my face growing. He was only five but it seemed he could remember anything he deemed important.

"Uh-hum…"

I looked up towards the sound and saw my wife with a smirk, nodding in the direction of our guests. I cleared my throat, "I apologize for my rudeness."

"Don't apologize. We're the ones who should be apologizing. Having you travel all the way here with your family just to satisfy our wants." The man said looking sorry.

I smiled at him, "Of course not, it was no trouble at all. We were thinking about having a vacation anyway." I laughed, "Besides, these two were super excited to fly. They love it!"

The man still looked a little guilty saying, "We would have come to you but-"

I put my hand up to stop him, "Don't worry about it. We know all too well the hardships of traveling in your third trimester." My wife and I exchanged looks as she continued for me.

"Towards the end of my first pregnancy with Patrick here, my father was in a car accident that hospitalized him. But because of the flight restrictions, we had to drive halfway across Osea just to see him." She chuckled lightheartedly continuing, "He says we worried for nothing just a broken leg and arm, so when we rushed into his hospital room, he looked at us confused asking rather loudly, 'What the hell are you doin here!'" I started laughing as well remembering my father in-law scolding us for traveling while she was pregnant.

'In hindsight he was right.' I thought.

"He yelled at us like we were children saying I could have gone into labor. I was even preparing to be grounded the way he was yelling, but sure enough as those words left his lips my water broke."

There were a few moments of stunned silence from the young couple before my wife continued with a smile, "Well we were already in a hospital so it wasn't scary or anything but my father did manage to get in his I-told-you-so before I was wheel-chaired away."

We all laughed again before I remembered something important.

"Excuse me." I said, "But I forgot to get your names. All the letter had as a return name were the initials 'T.H.'"

His laughing stopped and his smile was replaced by an embarrassed flush of red on his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry!" he blurted out, "My name is Timothy Hughston Sir! And this is my wife Laura!"

I smirked a little at his return to formal titles. "Remember we're not on base Tim, so just call me…"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Ok... First off I want to say that I'm sorry to those of you who have actually managed to wait this long for the second chapter of this story. I can't make any excuses** **especially since a lot of it had to do with being lazy. So my deepest apology to all of you. I promise to do my best to get the next chapters out much faster! Anyway I hope you enjoy!**

 **PS: I own nothing but the original characters I create. Thank you.**

 **YEAR 2010:**

"...on!"

"..."

".arSON!"

"..."

'BANG, BANG, BANG!'

"SECOND LIEUTENANT AARON LARSON!"

My eyes shot open as I fell off my cot and onto the cold hard floor, smashing my face into the concrete. 'BANG, BANG, BANG!' The sound of Captain Alex Gruber pounding on my door, echoed off the walls of my empty room. After quickly making sure my nose wasn't broken I grabbed my clock. Of course it had stopped, and I was supposed to be in the air in twenty minutes.

"Shit!" I exclaimed under my breath, but obviously not quiet enough.

"What was that Second Lieutenant!?"

"Nothing Sir!" I yelled back through the closed door. "I'll be ready Sir!"

"You better be. I'd hate to see that perfect record of yours take a hit." his words dripping with sarcasm, and the slightest hint of distain. And with that I heard his steps fade down the hallway.

 _Man! What's with the superiors everywhere I go! What had I done to them?_ It was the same story everywhere I was sent to. Someone in the upper echelons seemed to have a problem with me, and it was no different here at Heierlark Air Force Base.

I joined the air force a few years later than usual, but I had always wanted to be a fighter pilot. Flying just felt so natural to me as if I was meant to be born a bird and my spirit went into the wrong body. After only the first couple weeks, I was already the top of my class. Maybe the captain didn't like me because I had out-flown him in my first training mission. Shaking my head I grabbed my clock to see the time.

"Oh... right..."

I quickly reached for my towel and ran for the showers. As I rushed down the hall, I took a quick glance at the wall mounted clock. My eye twitched as I saw the time. I now only had seventeen minutes to get to my plane.

I dashed from the showers half naked and dripping. I instantly regretted not drying off. Who the hell builds an airbase in the middle of the frozen tundra? Finally making it to the lockers I threw on my flight suit and sprinted out towards the hangers. My still wet hair started to freeze in the icy winds that blew continuously around the base. As I came through the door I saw the flight crew already had my plane ready for me. I looked up at the T1 Hawk I was going to be flying today for my final test.

"Hope you can play nice with this one."

I smiled and turned to see where the familiar voice had come from.

"Hey Charlie." I laughed as he walked up to stand next to me.

Second Lieutenant Charles Mach. One of the only real friends I had on base. He was on the thinner side for someone middle-aged, and that thick black mustache under his nose always made me think of Groucho Marx. The only friends I'd managed to make here consisted of the flight crew that looked after the planes I flew. All the other pilots in training didn't care much for me. They all saw me as an obstacle in their way. But at least to their credit they just turned it into drive instead of animosity. They all seemed to try and use me as a stepping stone. Well, if that turns them into even better pilots, that's fine by me.

"Try not to strain the air frame as much on this one." he said to me with a smirk. "I spent weeks on the last plane you took up. I even had to go so far as to replace one of its wings."

"Ha.. ha ha..." I chuckled nervously scratching my head.

'SMACK!' "HAHAHA!" My eyes nearly flew out of their sockets as the older man's hand landed square in the center of my back. "I have to admit, Aaron, it's been a long time since we've had someone like you come through this base." Charles turned to look at me and continued, "I've been watching you since your first training mission here. You're a damn good pilot Aaron and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You've got the potential for greatness but you're lacking something important. I noticed it in your last flight."

As he paused, I looked over at him, trying not to show the pain I was feeling on my face, wondering what he meant. He took a deep breath and looked back at me. "Listen Aaron," his tone much more serious all of a sudden, "I've gotten to work with some of the most amazing pilots in the world throughout my career in the air force. I haven't told anyone this, so I trust you to keep this secret." His voice was quieter now as he looked around to see if anyone would hear him before he continued. "There were two people I worked with that always come to mind whenever I see you fly. Your awareness of your surroundings in the sky reminds me of a man by the name of Christoph Wolf."

I just blinked. The name didn't ring any bells from the history books I had read from school or from the books we studied on base.

"Haha, I guess that name wouldn't sound familiar considering only a few people know his real name." a smirk appeared on his face as the next few words fell from his lips. "There are a few other names people know him by, but he's best known as Cipher, the leader of Galm Team."

My lips parted slightly as my eyes widened. _He wasn't seriously comparing me to one of the greatest aces of all time was he?_

He just kept speaking, his smirk now a full on, all knowing, smile. "You also have the killer instinct of another legendary ace I had the pleasure of working with, but for reasons that are my own I can't tell you his real name but I'm sure you know his call sign." I was frozen in place. How could I be held in the same light as two legendary pilots? Just who did he think I was? "Mobius 1, the man who saved the entire Usean continent from utter destruction."

I heard a loud bang as something hit the ground. I thought it was my jaw that just dropped but when I looked down, I saw my helmet spinning slightly next to my feet.

"They're the ones I remember when I watch you fly. But as I said before, they both had something you're lacking."

I slowly reached down and picked up my helmet, feeling two more smacks to the center of my back. "Hahaha! But don't think for a second I'm going to tell you what it is! Hahaha!" 'SMACK'

He made his way out of the hanger laughing as he went saying, "I'll be watching from the tower. Give'm hell kid!" and he was gone.

"DAMN IT!" _Four freaking times in the same spot! I have to learn to watch for those or he's going to cripple me!_ The guy may be in his fifties but I still haven't met someone who could hit as hard as him.

As I rubbed my now throbbing back to try and relieve some of the pain, I did a once over of the jet before getting in. I taxied to the runway and waited for the tower to give clearance. As I sat there, Charlie's words kept floating around in my head. Did I really remind him of Mobius 1 and the Demon Lord of the round table? "Hehe yeah right." He probably just said those things to give me more confidence in my final test. Then his last few words popped back in. What was I lacking?

Finally a voice came over my headset. "This is Heierlark tower to 2nd Lieutenant Aaron Larson. You're cleared for take-off."

"Roger that tower, 2nd Lieutenant Aaron Larson taking off. Call sign Blaze."

"Roger that Blaze, good luck."

As my plane lifted into the sky, I felt my heart soar. This is where I belong, up here amongst the clouds. I looked around at the view I had from my cockpit. The sun was just starting to peek over the mountains that surrounded the base. As I made my way to the testing area I watched as the sun lazily rose into the morning sky. I started to understand why someone would want to build a base here. "What a sight…"

I flew to 10,000 feet and waited for my instructions.

After about thirty seconds the radio clicked. "Blaze, this is Base Commander Allensford. Do you copy?"

"Read you loud and clear Commander."

"Good. Now for your final test you'll be going up against two planes. Your job is to locate them and to shoot them down within the allotted time. You'll have four minutes to begin. If in that time you shoot one of your adversaries down, you'll be awarded another minute to find and destroy your remaining target."

"Understood Sir." _Five minutes to shoot down two planes huh? Doesn't sound too difficult._

"Very good. Your mission begins now!"

Just then my radar pinged a bogey coming in hot from my five o'clock. I quickly spun my plane and pulled hard into a high-g right turn and my pursuer followed. Do to my quick maneuver I caught a glimpse of the plane that was following me. It was another T1 Hawk.

I started to pull a little more on the stick to tighten the turn. The G's started to make my feet tingle as blood started to rush towards them. I checked my radar. _Not bad_ I thought. They were actually staying with me. At least they were better than Capt. Gruber.

I needed to get behind this guy, so I eased off the throttle slightly while wrenching the stick into my gut to tighten the turn as much as possible. As I did I started to hear the stress I was putting on the air frame. I closely watched my radar to see if they would match my turn and when they did, I jerked the stick rolling my plane to the left for only a few seconds then rolled inverted and shot strait for the deck. This seemed to do the trick as I checked my radar, but my heart quickly sank as I noticed the new blip on my screen coming from my nine o'clock.

 _Shit! They'd set a trap!_ Noticing the speed at which they were coming, I immediately pulled out of my dive and into a climbing left turn, confident my new enemy would overshoot being too overzealous in his surprise attack. And of course he did, but as I looked at the plane I was trying to get behind of, my confidence shrank a bit. He was flying an F-5E Tiger II. I now made him my priority.

His eagerness to attack me had given me the advantage for now and I was not going to waist it. He had overshot trying to match my climbing turn, and as he realized his mistake he sharply rolled to the right trying to make sure I couldn't get on his six, but I was already matching his high-g turn with my own and at the speed he was climbing. As the chase continued skyward, his planes superior thrust started to show as he began to leave me behind. Knowing that I couldn't match his rate of climb, broke off and set my sights back onto the other Hawk, that was patrolling the sky above.

They had obviously been watching me and their partner, because as soon as I cut from the Tiger II, they were on their way to intercept me.

As we were coming closer to each other I glanced at my radar and notice the Tiger coming after me. _They're going to try and sandwich me._ I thought. As I sped towards one of my opponents I had another thought. _I can finally try that out!_

With both planes closing in on me, and about to be in range of either one, I jerked hard on the stick. The nose of my plane facing the sky for a brief moment before I quickly rolled inverted and hit my after burners pulling back on the stick to again shoot for the ground.

I headed for earth watching both my surroundings and radar waiting to make my attack, and when I saw my two adversaries make fast movements to avoid each other before coming after me, I made my move. I pulled back on the throttle to slow my air speed then once more wrenched the stick into my gut before hitting the throttle to full after burner. I could hear the frame weep as the g-force threatened to rip the wings off, and nock my lights out. But I knew we could make it through.

In that small amount of time, which felt like minutes, I was back gunning for the Tiger II that had the misfortune of being my first target. He was just coming around to chase after me when I was on him. Quickly I forced him into a flat scissors where I knew I could outturn him, and just like that I had him in my sights. One down, that meant I had at least one more minute to finish this.

My head was on a swivel. I saw a glint to my four o'clock and checked my radar. Sure enough they were now turning in towards me to try and get my six so I sharply rolled to my right and proceeded to perform a rolling scissors with my last enemy. I had to admit they were good. They had managed to match my turns each time I would try and tighten them. I pitched my nose up a little to reduce my turn radius and they would follow suit, again matching my turn.

 _Who is that? Is that someone I know?_ I couldn't think of anyone of my classmates being able to handle these turns, or any of the instructors for that matter.

I had to break this endless chase, and when we both missed lock passing each other again, I broke the cycle going into an Immelmann turn. I shot up and straight back causing the other pilot to make the decision to break and turn into my flight path to try and escape.

A small smile spread across my face. _It worked!_ I pulled up and went into a barrel roll, coming straight down on my opponent. I got a lock and the test was over.

I heard my radio click.

"This is Commander Allensford. Good job Blaze the test is over. Head back to base."

"Roger that Commander."

A few minutes later I had landed and was waiting for the testers to land. I wanted to know who that pilot was. The Tiger II landed first. I was mildly curious as to who the pilot was so I looked over to see a very angry Captain Gruber. I chuckled to myself and saluted in his direction to which he just scowled more before storming off back to the base.

By this time Charlie had managed to find me giving me a congratulatory pat on the back. 'SMACK, SMACK, SMACK.' "Hahaha! I knew you wouldn't disappoint!"

Putting my eyes back in head I looked at Charlie with a forced smile and asked, "Do you know who that pilot is in the other Hawk?"

"Before I answer that, didn't I say to put LESS stress on the frame?" He gave me a half-serious look before laughing again. "To answer your question, I do know the pilot."

I looked at him waiting for him to continue. He looked at me and laughed, "Hahaha! You know the pilot too!"

Before I could say anything to that, a loud voice came from behind me, "Ah, and here I thought we were best-friends kid!" A huge smile spread across my face as I turned around to see a tall large man looking at me with a fake hurt expression.

"Chopper!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around my friend in a bear hug.

"It's good to see ya Blaze!"

 **AN: Alright so how many of you thought the other pilot was going to be Nagase? I really would like to know if that managed to throw you guys for a sec so leave a comment I'd really appreciate it and thanks for reading!**


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